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GAME CHANGER ON CAMPUSPAGE 3

MARKETPLACE CHAPLAINS DIRECT PAGE 4 • EVANGEL DEDICATES CORYELL FIELD PAGE 5 • BLESSINGS BEYOND THE RADIO DIAL PAGE

5 • THIS WEEK IN AG HISTORY PAGE 8

INTENTIONALLY LOOKING LIKE HEAVENPAGE 6

MARCHING TO DIFFERENT DRUMSPAGE 7

A COLLECTION OF THIS WEEK’S TOP STORIES FROM PENEWS.ORG

SUNDAY,NOV. 27,2016

THIS WEEK IN AG HISTORYBY GLENN W. GOHR

Paul E. Bills (1921-77) and his wife, Marguerite, learned true gratitude while serving as Assemblies of God missionaries in Alaska. In a 1968 Pentecostal Evangel article, Paul shared how the challenges of life in Alaska taught them to be thankful.

The Billses drove from New Jersey to North Pole, Alaska, in the fall of 1955. For the next 20 years they devoted their lives to evangelizing Eskimos.

Their first winter was harsh. For a six-week period the temperature stayed mostly 50- to 60-below zero and got very close to 70-below. “Every piece of wood put into the Alaskan stove is like a gift from God,” Paul said.

The family lived in several Alaskan villages, including Beaver and Barrow, where they got water by harvesting ice from frozen rivers and lakes and melting it.

They also grew to appreciate the sun, as for two months it would disappear; trees, as when they lived

in Nome, trees did not grow there; and fresh fruits and vegetables, which were a “special blessing from God.”

Read Paul E. Bills’ article, “I Learned Gratitude on the Alaska Mission Field,” on pages 2-3 of the Nov. 24, 1968, issue of the Pentecostal Evangel online at s2.ag.org/nov241968.

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CHRIST IN ACTION BRINGS HOPE TO FLOOD SURVIVORS PAGE 2

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Goldsboro, North Carolina, sits in a 1,000-year flood plain — the chances of having damaging flooding is about one-tenth of 1 percent in any given year. But then Hurricane Matthew arrived in early October.

With no flood insurance and many of the families impacted barely making ends meet, Hurricane Matthew brought devastating flooding that left hundreds of homes in Goldsboro standing in three to six feet of polluted water, damaging or destroying everything it touched.

“Unfortunately, the hardest hit areas were the poorest areas,” says Josh Clark, pastor of Generation Church (AG) in Goldsboro.

Where do people turn when everything is lost?

For Goldsboro, the answer has clearly become the church.

Convoy of Hope, the compassion and disaster relief ministry partner of the Assemblies of God, made the first impact. Working with Generation Church, a semi load of nonperishable

food, water, cleaning supplies, and hygiene materials was trucked in from Convoy’s base in Lumberton, North Carolina, and distributed to flood victims in Goldsboro.

Then, Denny Nissley and his Christ in Action (CIA) ministry arrived in town on Oct. 19. Nissley explains that going to Goldsboro was an easy decision.

“I shared with [community leaders] about Christ In Action,” says Nissley, who is an endorsed AG chaplain through U.S. Missions. “And then I explained the part about sharing the gospel and praying with residents. The mayor looked around the room and said, ‘We need more of Jesus in this city!’ We immediately knew we were in the right city and working with the right people.”

Although CIA relies heavily upon volunteer teams (and is needing far more), few understand just how capable the ministry is. CIA has more than $2 million worth of equipment at its disposal, including: skid steers for debris removal, a portable toilet

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T H E A B C s O F S A L V A T I O N

ACCEPT that you are a sinner, and God’s punishment for yoursin is death and separation from God forever.

BELIEVE that Jesus paid God’s price for your sin when He died on the cross.

CONFESS “Jesus, I believe You are who the Bible and historydeclares Your are – the Son of God. I humble myself and surrender to You. Forgive me. Make me spiritually whole. Change my life. Amen.”

MARCHING TO DIFFERENT DRUMSBY ROBERT E. MIMS

In 2014, father-son pastors Randy and Ryan Visconti unveiled their vision for sparking growth and building unity in the Mesa, Arizona, church where they served as pastors: separate services, based on generational worship preferences.

It involved more than just adding a contemporary-style service to the existing more traditional and established one. The congregation, known as Celebration Church under founding pastor Randy, not only relaunched as Generation Church, but did so with his son Ryan designated as the lead pastor.

The switch raised a few eyebrows around the community. Separate services, the doubters fretted, in effect would widen the generational divide, and inevitably the congregation itself might unravel in disunity.

“By God’s grace, doing anything great requires risks,” Randy says.

Having gained leadership patience as an Iraq War veteran, Ryan moved ahead, with his father’s resolute and

calming support. “I was getting into my late 50s and it was becoming more difficult to reach young adults and young families,” Randy says. “It was key for me to fully endorse Ryan’s position as lead pastor.”

Generation Church has proven the skeptics wrong. The New Live services, where contemporary music and Ryan’s multimedia-assisted preaching style are featured, average 630 in attendance. The Traditions service, aimed at the senior demographic, is steady at 225. In all, attendance is roughly twice the total of two years ago.

However, to assume the Traditions service is solely for seniors, or that Live services caters only to Generation X and millennials, would be wrong. Some seniors like the energy of the Live services; some younger worshippers choose the Traditions gathering. All ages find common ground in church small groups and activities.

“We feel there is more unity in our church among different age groups than the average church,” Ryan says.

CHRIST IN ACTION BRINGS HOPE TO FLOOD SURVIVORS IN NORTH CAROLINABY DAN VAN VEEN

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Stephen C. and Brooksyne Weber go to work in 10 different places every week.

As Assemblies of God U.S. Missions corporate chaplains, the married couple visit 10 jobsites in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. With the exception of a pair of national motel chains in the community, small local companies have hired them. In each case, owners and managers want the Webers to meet the spiritual needs of employees.

The overseers of all 10 enterprises, ranging from a heating and air conditioning firm to a livestock equipment manufacturer, are Christians who have contracted independently with the Webers. The firms pay a monthly fee for their personnel, which range in size from 25 to 200 employees.

In any given week, Stephen and Brooksyne have face time with more than 400 workers. They greet individuals by name, and perhaps inquire about the status of a recent health problem or how a wayward child is getting along. Besides worksite visitation, the Webers are available for counseling.

Stephen pastored AG churches for a quarter century before he and Brooksyne became part-time Marketplace Ministries chaplains in 1998. They struck out on their own in 2005, contracting directly with small

businesses.The Webers — who have been

married 40 years — go to the workplaces together, then Stephen spends time with male workers while Brooksyne visits the women.

“Women, from day one when we introduce ourselves, are more willing to go in depth with problems than men,” Brooksyne says. “Women are sometimes in tears because they have bottled up problems.”

Non-Christians sometimes aren’t receptive — until a crisis hits. That’s especially true for the largely young female maid staff at the motels, where Brooksyne may be viewed as a mother, or even grandmother, figure.

“The relationship changes with people who wouldn’t give me a chance to talk to them,” Brooksyne says. “The floodgates open.”

If a troubled worker needs extra time with the chaplain, they can meet in a conference room, or later at a restaurant or in the Weber home.

Stephen and Brooksyne also write a devotional message at a website called Daily Encouragement.

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Evangel University completed installing Coryell Field this summer, a state-of-the-art game and practice surface, on its Springfield, Missouri, campus and dedicated it in a ceremony on Oct. 21.

The new AstroTurf field is being used for men and women’s soccer home games

and practice, football practice, and for marching band rehearsals. The field is part of the first phase of development for Evangel’s new athletic facilities.

“Coryell Field is by far the best playing surface in the conference,” said Bruce Deaton, director of soccer operations and head women’s soccer coach. “The opportunity to train and play our matches on this field, not only enhances our ability to play the game, but will pay huge dividends in the recruiting of future Lady crusaders.”

This development follows a successful first round of public and private fundraising, which included a generous gift from the Coryell family, through Evangel’s Momentum Campaign for Athletics.

“Phase two is the field house, which will house both academic and athletic offices, locker rooms, classrooms, and the basketball/volleyball courts,” explained Hector Cruz, capital campaign manager.

A Christian radio network owned by the Illinois District Council of the Assemblies of God is reaching people for Christ across the state and beyond — on and off the air.

New Life Media Network, which is made up of WCIC and WBGL, covers 19 markets in Illinois, as well as parts of Indiana and Missouri. The stations also reach people in other parts of world through streaming online or on the phone app.

God is working through the ministry in many different ways, from uplifting music and mission trips to praying for listeners and assisting single mothers.

The network’s main tool for ministering is reaching through the radio airwaves. New Life Media Director Barry Copeland estimates the network has around 400,000 listeners.

Both stations serve single mothers in various ways. Staff and volunteers have provided car washes, oil changes, manicures, and haircuts. In 2015, the station helped 676 women via single mom events.

By connecting with people via the internet and through social media, the radio network has been inundated with prayer requests. Last year, online prayer centers answered 338,740 submitted prayer requests.

EVANGEL DEDICATES CORYELL FIELDBY PAUL K. LOGSDON

BLESSINGS BEYOND THE RADIO DIALBY JENNIFER M. NELSON

MARKETPLACE CHAPLAINS DIRECTBY JOHN W. KENNEDY

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unit, a refrigeration unit, an excavator for demolition, commercial portable generators, a shower unit (up to 800 showers per day), 6,000 gallons of potable water, a portable kitchen (capable of 15,000 meals a day), an internet café, and a huge variety of demolition hand tools and cleaning supplies — in addition to trained chaplains to meet spiritual needs.

“I’ve been in the AG all my life, and I’ve never fully understood how amazing and powerful Christ in Action is until now,” says North Carolina District Superintendent Rick Ross.

Already the CIA teams have cleaned out and gutted over 60 homes in Goldsboro, removing damaged

flooring, furniture, fixtures, destroyed belongings, and tons of drywall and hauling the debris to curbsides — all for free. They’ve also been busy using heavy equipment along with chainsaws on trees that have fallen, some on top of homes or cars.

“Christ in Action has brought a healing to our community that we’ve been praying for,” Clark says. “This has changed the way people view our church as they now associate us with Christ in Action . . . while they’ve been helping to rebuild our city, they’ve been helping rebuild us, too.”

“We pray with every resident and share Christ with them,” Nissley says. “That’s why we do what we do.”

INTENTIONALLY LOOKING LIKE HEAVENBY JOHN W. KENNEDY

Chris G. White had filled a variety of management roles at the Cincinnati headquarters of retailing behemoth Procter & Gamble. White’s wife, Deirdre, likewise had worked at P&G, progressing to the executive management level.

But after a quarter century, the Whites left their six-figure salaries — to go into full-time ministry.

Engaged in ministry at various multiethnic Pentecostal churches, White usually served with predominantly Caucasian leadership teams. But White, who attended primarily African-American congregations early in life, says God instructed him to plant a church that “looks like heaven.”

In September 2015, White started CityReach Church Seven Bridges in Jacksonville, Florida. He assembled a diverse crew of more than 20 mostly millennial leaders — Brazilians, Hispanics, African-Americans, islanders, and whites — to help launch the Assemblies of God church.

“We truly want to minister to everyone,” says the energetic and confident White. “To be multiethnic, we need to be intentional. Sunday morning worship is a stench in God’s nostrils when His children can’t get along.”

CityReach Seven Bridges is covered under CityReach Network, with start-up funds provided by the Church Multiplication Network and AGTrust. Seven Bridges is located

in a multiethnic section on the south side of Jacksonville. Yet White, 52, says wealthy and poor pockets are segregated. On a monthly basis, the church conducts outreaches at Carrington Place Apartments, a Section 8 housing development.

Vans pick up kids and adults from the complex for weekly worship services. White notes that the Association of Religion Data Archives show that more than half the population of Jacksonville don’t attend worship services regularly.

CityReach Church Seven Bridges meets in the student union of the University of North Florida. AG U.S. Missions is set to launch a Chi Alpha Campus Ministries chapter at the school. The church will support activities of the chapter, and White plans to coach the Chi Alpha leader.

At the outset of his freshman college year, Jeremy Ryan Lee Farmer is poised to be a game changer. He enrolled at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, this fall. He says he is 99 percent certain he will pursue computer graphics technology — games studies.

His father, Greg Farmer, pastor of CrossPoint Church in Grand Junction, Colorado, says Jeremy was fascinated early on with how video games work. Jeremy says he wants to help create games, to develop stories, and to develop characters. He likes combining technology with arts and music, and he wants to impact the culture.

The Denver-based Daniels Fund recognized Jeremy with a colossal

$375,000 scholarship on the basis of demonstrated character, leadership, and willingness to give back to the community. He also received an $80,000 Purdue University scholarship.

Jeremy was president of the Latin club at his high school, vice president of the National Honor Society chapter, and salutatorian of his graduating class. He played piano and was co-leader of the church worship team. Through his high school years, Jeremy took part in Fine Arts Festival.

AG roots run deep for Jeremy. His grandfather, Don Farmer, served 10 years as superintendent of the Rocky Mountain Ministry Network. Stephen Harris, superintendent of the Arizona Ministry Network, is Jeremy’s uncle.

GAME CHANGER ON CAMPUSBY MEL SURFACE